Injuries/Wildcards – Bali Pro

'Ocean surfing' is so hot right now, and Keramas is a marine playground. Let's see who's in and out...

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Surfers Out:

Caio Ibelli- looking at the WSL rankings page, Caio had already logged an injured for this event before the draw was up. While it's bad news for Caio, it virtually guarantees him an injury wildcard for 2019.

Kelly Slater - Kelly has surfed at three events since fracturing his foot at J-Bay last year: the Future Classic (briefly), Pipe and the Founders Cup. He looked pretty solid at the latter two, causing many to wonder just what he's playing at with these withdrawals. The truth is: Kelly works on a different level to us mere mortals and we have no chance at understanding the intricate dance of his actions. Let's just be glad he's back and hope for some solid waves.

Update: Kelly has withdrawn from yet another event, seemingly opting to surf a massive swell at Cloudbreak instead. This tells us 2 things: 1. There truly is now way to predict the enigma that is Robert Slater, and 2. His foot is just fine; he just doesn't need the tour as much as it needs him.

Surfers IN:

Joel Parkinson - the defending Bali Pro champion has battled his demons and overcome his 'personal reasons' for missing the surprisingly entertaining OiRioPro. I wonder if he wished he was amongst the pumping rights?

Mikey Wright - the wildcard gravy train just keeps chugging along. I sincerely hope Caio takes the required time to fully heal his injuries and doesn't rush back prematurely. In the meantime, we can continue to watch this Mikey experiment as it unfolds.

Miguel Pupo - Miggy has been a little unlucky in his two wildcard events, with a highly respectable and narrow loss to Italo at Margarets, and a R1 win over Jordy followed by a humbling loss to a rampaging JJF in R3 at Rio. He's surfing well; he just needs to catch a break.

Local Wildcard - Oney Anwar -Oney Anwar competed in this event in 2013, and his regional ranking should see him selected as the local wildcard. Otherwise the WSL could look for a sponsor wildcard to represent Corona. Maybe Joel Tudor?

Update: Oney has been added as predicted; his data is already on the metrics page.

Replacement Wildcard - Barron Mamiya - The young, Hawaiian upstart is currently ranked 10th on the QS (at time of writing) and has been turning some heads with his clips. He will take Slater's spot in the draw, which has been reseeded.

Heat Draw

Update: We're still waiting for wildcards, but the basic seedings and R1 match-ups are up. There are some interesting match-ups too, with the beefy power heat (Wade/Freddy/Willian in H11) a particular highlight. Things have been reseeded after Kelly's withdrawal, so check for friendly fire amongst your team mates.

Women's Event

Courtney Conlogue is finally back, after missing the first 4 events of the season. How's her form, her confidence? I have no idea. She sounded hungry in her interview before the Founders Cup, so I wouldn't underestimate her.

There has been no news on a wildcard as yet, but Phillipa Anderson is the top-ranked, non-tour surfer on the QS.

Balyn grew up on the east coast of Australia, nourishing his passion for surfing through a diet of empty beach breaks, Taylor Steele VHS cassettes and poor amateur competition results. As one of the head writers/analysts for Surf-Stats, he is as comfortable tearing through spreadsheets as he is 6' left-handers.